Old Enemies
by addicted2airwolf
Summary: Story 9. Hawke is forced to work with Lexa to take out an old enemy, but will he be able to trust her in nearly the same circumstances that separated them in the first place?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Trying to brush the grease off the jumpsuit and only succeeding in smearing it, Stringfellow Hawke reappeared from underneath the Jet Ranger's belly where he had spent the majority of the day. He continued wiping, glaring disapprovingly as he tried to find out where his other shirt had mysteriously vanished to. "I'm already ten minutes late as it is," he grumbled, "and I'd get grease all over the place if I went like this. And now my shirt if just gone. Where could the-"

"String."

"Whatever it is it's going to have to wait. I have to pick Le up from school and-"

"String," Saint John interrupted again. "Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean don't…. I said that I-"

"Lexa is taking care of it."

"Lexa? As in Lexa that carries C-4 in her purse Lexa?"

"I haven't made it a habit of searching her purse, but yeah, I would be willing to venture as far as to say we're probably talking about the same person."

"You're trusting her with Le? The same person who goes to the Middle East and Communist Russia for vacation?"

"I don't know exactly what your problem with her is, but she's come through every time I can recall. I have no reason not to trust her."

" She almost got me killed. Doesn't that qualify? She's got no conscience. She didn't offer me as much as a sincere apology and you let her pick up Le. He's supposed to be my responsibility, it's my job to make sure he's _not _with people like her."

"She has also saved your life. Not too you from being strangled to death, and only a week ago she took out the drug dealer that was trying to take out the family. Some people do change you know."

"Not her. I used to think she was a decent person, a bit unorthodox, but I don't have a lot of room to critique there. If you spend any time with her you realize how she works though. Lexa is an adrenaline junkie; she enjoys the thrill of defying death whether it's weaving through traffic fifty over the speed limit, hi-jacking an enemy plane, or seeing how many people she can take down from five hundred yards with am M25, she's in it for the excitement. To her it's a game; she has no remorse for those she kills or hurts along the way, even if they're on her side."

"Unorthodox I would believe, but she's just doing her job. If she stopped to cry after every person she killed she wouldn't be so good as what she does," his brother disagreed. "You were in Vietnam, you know how it is. It's not all fun and games, but sometimes you have to joke about it or you'd do nothing but dwell on the mistakes and tragedies. You can't honestly say every time you've pulled the trigger, Airwolf included, justice and duty were the only things running through your mind, that it's never been about doing better than someone else or revenge, can you?"

"No, but I try to avoid that as much as possible."

"There are truly bad people, I believe that much, but I don't want to write her off as one of them until she has proved that she is. Sometimes I don't think there is a clear-cut right and wrong. In her job she just happens to deal in that gray area a lot. For example, stealing Airwolf might not have been the 'right' thing to do, but without it you knew there was a good possibility the FIRM wouldn't hold up their end of the deal. Since then you've helped a lot of people with a weapon that wasn't legitimately yours. Does that make helping them wrong? I don't know. I just think sometimes we feel we have no choice but to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. She does kill people for a living, but it's for national security and to keep the majority of people safe. Does that make what she does much different than what you do in Airwolf?"

"Hawke," Caitlin called as she wandered back out into the other end of the hangar. "I have a situation I need to discuss with you regarding clothing."

"You do?"

"Yes. Your locker is the one on the end, not the one next to it, and I don't much appreciate you taking up all the space in mine."

"Sorry," he apologized, restfully taking his lost shirt from her.

"Beyond that, you might want to make sure there aren't already greasy clothes in there. You don't know how long it took to get that shirt clean, and next time I might just return it with the grease."

"Thanks, Cait." He took the shirt, disappearing from the room to change.

"Was I interrupting something?"

Saint John shook his head. "A stalemate."

"Alright then." She started to leave, stopping when she got the doorway. "Do you have a ride home? I'm about to leave for the day, and I thought I could drop you off on the way if you wanted."

"That would be great." He pushed up from the chair, still moving none too quickly, and followed her out.

Once they were in her car and driving off he realized her true motives for offering the ride however.

"I need your advice on something."

"I can offer it, but there's no assurance it's going to be good advice."

"Well you probably know String better than I do, what sets him off and what bothers him."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Michael has a new mission for Airwolf; I'm just not so sure it's something he should do. I don't want to exclude him if he wants to be part of the action, especially since he's currently in the best physical shape, no offense."

"None taken."

"I'm just afraid it will hit a little too close to home, and I don't want him to do something stupid."

"Understandable. What's the mission?"

"A grudge holding Vietnamese ex-warlord, the same one that held your brother captive for two months, is trying to create trouble. His son who was evidently in the North Vietnamese Army was killed by Americans over there recently. I don't know who or why they were over there, but they were. Since then he has been trying to stir up trouble, telling them that the Americans are coming back over to start another war. A couple teams have already been sent over there to take care of the situation, but none have succeeded."

"Have any of them survived?"

"All but four people sent over there have been tortured to death, their bodies used as example of the war he's trying to make them believe we're starting."

"What happened to the four?" Saint John queried.

"One is still being held prisoner over there. The other man has been missing for about a week without a trace."

"You said there were four."

"This has actually been going on for quite some time; he just hadn't been going many followers until recently. The other two were Lexa Cole and your brother."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"What else can you tell me about this mission?"

"Not much. Michael couldn't give me many details because he doesn't have any. String and Lexa were the only ones over there. From what I've heard he followed a lead on your whereabouts while you were still MIA while she continued with her assignment; the discrepancies come after that. Either she got bored and went off the deep end or truly thought their mission was compromised, which one I can't say. Eventually they both made it back, although String was quite a bit worse for wear from what I hear. Both of them refused to file a report so no one else knows what really happened. It's the one that really set them apart though," Caitlin explained. "If possible, it would be best for both Lexa and String to go on this one since they're the only ones with any real knowledge of the situation, but not if… well, you know. They don't get along very well."

"That would be a major understatement, but yeah, I know what you mean."

"So what do you think? Somebody has to go, but who? Who's physically able to?"

"If you can them to behave String and Lexa with you I guess. I'm sure Dom would be willing if not, but I'm not sure he's quite a hundred percent yet. Personally, I'd love to give this guy a piece of my mind, especially after he put my brother through hell for two months, but I know I'm not the most physically able at the moment. Unfortunately helicopter crashes and catching fire will do that to a person."

"I understand. That was kind of what I figured, I just wanted to be sure with both Lexa and his old captor involved."

"It's the best thing I can think of, but I have no doubt he'll be a handful. Just give me the word and I'll go instead."

"No, I'll take them and see how it goes. I do have one more request on behalf of your brother though."

"Name it."

"Would you mind looking after Le while we're gone?"

\A/

**The Lair**

Lexa sauntered across the cavern to put the last gun on the rear storage compartment of Airwolf, adding it to the expansive collection she already had.

"One would think we really _are _trying to start an all out war if they saw all that," Caitlin commented jokingly, although knowing it was most likely true.

"We might have be," Lexa returned with the same teasing air. "If it's anything like last time he'll be well armed."

But who really needs weapons when you treat people like he did? Hawke thought bitterly, not only his prisoners but his own people. Never before, and hopefully never again had be seen anyone act with such disregard for life. Even Lexa with all her faults was almost a saint compared to this guy. She at least killed and moved on. Nguyen van Long liked to see how long he could drag it the torture out for days, weeks, even months; he probably would have continued for years if anyone had survived that long.

"You about ready to go?" he heard one of the others call him, but he made no immediate move. Just the thought of being in Long's domain again made him want to run and hide. This time it would be different, he told himself, this time he had Airwolf on his side. He had no doubt it would be different, he just didn't know if that was necessarily all good. One thing was for sure though, he was _not _going to let him get a hold of him and treat him the way he had before and had to so many others. He'd rather die first. But if it came down to dying, he planned to take out Nguyen van Long and as many of his helpers cohorts down with him.

"String?" Caitlin called again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he lied, tugging on the sipper of his flight suit momentarily. "I'm coming."

Within minutes he was inside, powering up the engines while Caitlin sat at the engineer's console bringing the other systems online. The rotors gained momentum, stirring up dust from the cave floor as each wheel broke contact with the ground and disappeared into the white belly of the helicopter as if lifted higher into the air. Finally she peaked over the rocky walls of the chimney and shot off, racing across the sky.

\A/

"Stringfellow Hawke," Lexa repeated, using his whole name in an effort to get his attention.

At last it worked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like me to take over for a while? You've been flying for hours and I thought you might like a break. Little did I know it required so much of your concentration."

Hawke looked down at the controls hesitantly for a long minute before returning his gaze to Lexa.

"I promise not to purposefully kill us all," she added with an evil grin, "no fun stuff. And if we see anything other than clouds and salt water we've been flying over for ages you can have the controls back."

"Alright," he agreed, reluctantly relinquishing control. She was right, he was over concentrating and still pretty out of it, and that wasn't a safe way to fly. It wasn't a good way to be getting ready for one of the most dangerous mission he was likely to face either.

"We've got refuel coming up before long," Lexa reminded. "Do you want to handle that or are you willing to let me try?"

"You can," he answered before turning back to Caitlin. "Do we have anything to eat back there?" It suddenly occurred to him he hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and it was now closing in on dinner time. Without the distraction of flying his hunger quickly caught up with him though, making him good with whatever they might have packed.

"There's a sandwich," she replied. "I tried to see if you wanted it earlier when the rest of us ate but never got an answer."

"It sounds great." Truthfully he had almost decided he was going to have to search around for some crumb, not that he was very likely to find many with the way Dom made sure his Lady was always pristine.

Caitlin handed him the sandwich and he began scarfing it down.

"Remember to stop when you run out. If I'd known you liked my egg salad sandwiches so much I would have made more."

"This is plenty," he said as he reached the last couple bites. He certainly would have accepted more if there was any, but it would be enough to hold him over until dinner he decided. Besides, there wasn't room for anymore because _he _had made the mistake of mentioning the necessity of being well armed with Lexa in earshot.

\A/

"Saint John," Dom addressed as he entered the room. "How would you like to go with me and George here tonight? We were just talkin' about this old place we used to go sometimes and thought we might like to see if it was still around. After all, it's not every day an old pal flies in just to see you…."

"I appreciate the offer," he answered, "but I'll have to pass tonight." He was glad to see Dom having such a good time, but he really wasn't sure how much more of it he could take. He already had a pounding headache and the longer the two of them stood out there laughing and carrying the worse it got.

"Your loss. I'm takin' Le if you don't mind. I think he'd have a good time."

"Fine with me ," Saint John agreed. "Just try not to stay out too late he has school in the morning."

"I can take him to that too so we won't have to interrupt you later this evening."

"Sounds good to me. See you bright and early in the morning."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**4:39 am**

It was hot but not this hot, Hawke thought miserably as he wiped a sweaty hand across an even sweatier brow. He had fought to get some sleep all night, and failed. Every time he was able to get a few minutes sleep it was anything but restful; nightmares - real and fears of what was to come - haunted his every minute. He had had enough of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia while he was fighting a war. Needless to say, it wasn't high up on his list of places to revisit, but this was worse. This trip threatened to pull him back into the worst two months of his life.

Weakly pushing up to his feet, he tried to rid himself of memories he knew he'd never escape. He tried to be strong, to put on the impassive façade and tell everyone he was fine, but it was no use. He never should have come on this mission. Las time he was here with Lexa he had thought the same thing but managed to get past it, although that was mostly because if he hadn't put it aside and been running for his life Lexa would have gotten him killed. Not exactly the way he wanted to remember things either.

With Long he feared he was on the verge of losing it. Now even the thought of him and being vaguely near his presence did nearly the same thing two months of torture had. Had he lost that much? Perhaps the security of Airwolf's cockpit and having the latest technologically advanced weapons had weakened his stomach for close hand-to-hand combat. He would have liked to think he could still do as well as he could then, making up any lost ability in wisdom by experience, but maybe that wasn't the case after all.

"You don't look so good," it was Caitlin's voice that broke him out of his thoughts. She pressed her hand against his forehead to confirm what she already guessed. He was burning up. "Come back with me to Airwolf and I'll get you some water and something to bring that fever down."

He shook his head listlessly. "Won't do much good."

"I don't see how it could hurt though, and you've got to do something about it."

"Can't."

"What do you mean can't?"

"It's being here…. Long…Lexa…."

"Should we take you back to the US? At least to another country?"

"No, we're here to do a mission, not ferry me around."

"True," she agreed, "but your wellbeing is still important though."

"Lexa has all the details we know, let her plan the attack. I'll survive."

Just survive? Not even the typical 'I'm fine'? That worried her, the fact he was implying he would merely live through it, not even trying to convince her his condition wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"String, this isn't so important that-"

"Yes it is Cait! I'm not the only one he treated that way, dozens of other American soldiers, his own people even, his own family. No one deserves to be subjected to that and the possibility that he might still have someone down there is the exact reason why we _have _to go in tomorrow, whether I feel up to it or not."

He still had some fight, she thought, that was a good sign even if she didn't agree with the logic.

"Are you going to be able to keep it together long enough to be of any use if we need you?" she demanded.

"I-" he started to fire back, but stopped himself. She had a good point. Nguyen van Long was no one to play around with, and they deserved someone who was actually going to be there for them if they needed him. Maybe that would _both _be better off if he sat this one out…

"Yeah, Cait," he finally answered, trying to keep the hesitation in his voice from showing. If there was still someone being held prisoner they needed to be gotten out immediately not in a few days or weeks when they could manage to get over here with someone who could actually do their job.

"You sure?"

He nodded. "Don't have much choice."

"Alright." He didn't' sound so certain, but she would just have to trust him on this one. "Let me try to get your fever down though," she requested.

"I think it's just nerves," he answered, "but if it will make you feel better, you can try."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**5:20 am **

Lexa, looking none too happy, looked at the other two men then back to the map of the camp she had sketched.

"We want to go in while we still have some darkness, but that does make certain aspects of this mission more dangerous," she reminded, " so watch where you put your feet, know what and who is around, and know where your other team members are at all times. You will both get your choice of assault weapon - M16 or AK-47 - and are to carry your own handguns anytime you aren't in Airwolf. Also, before you leave make sure you pick up extra ammo and your knives. The name of the game is surprise. You got that?"

Both nodded.

She cast a skeptical glance at her trembling ex-partner, but made no comment, only shaking her head. "Hawke and I will come through the brush and try to get the prisoner out. Ten minutes after we enter the camp Caitlin will come through with Airwolf and take everything out. We are backing each other, but there will be no heroics and nothing to jeopardize the success of the mission. Understood? And Caitlin, that means un ten minutes you take out _everything _whether we're out or you can see us or not."

"But if you're still…"

"We might be counting on it. Hawke and I will be out if we're getting out, just do what you have to do."

She nodded her understanding although not sure she would actually be able to bring herself to do it.

"Good. Then we're ready to go, or at least as ready as we're going to be."

\A/

Lexa decided to take the front of the building, not sure how much longer Hawke would be able to hold up. She slipped around the corner toward the door which was, of course, locked. She could take it any of several ways but most, if not all, of them would give away the element of surprise. Time continued on thought and it wasn't something she definitely couldn't afford to waste.

With a couple well placed kicks she removed the obstacle, although not as quietly as she would have liked and entered the one room building gun drawn.

Nothing.

That wasn't a good sign. No prisoners, no enemies, no anything….

Glancing at her watch, she realized they only had four minutes to clear the area with or without any possible prisoners before Airwolf would come in and level everything. Did they have time to check anywhere else? Was there even anyone alive to rescue anymore?

Frustrated, she slipped back out of the building and around the back to where Hawke was waiting.

"So?"

"No one in there," she answered in a whisper. "I'm going to try the next building."

"There's no time, we have to get out of here."

"You can start heading back, actually I think that would be best. You start back and I'll check it out real quickly before Cait comes through. No big deal, I'll be right behind you."

Before he had a chance to give her an answer she was running across the campsite toward another somewhat dilapidated building that would have served for containing prisoners. He took a few steps away but couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Even with it being dark it was too easy. Lexa had just rounded the corner and disappeared from sight when he had almost persuaded himself she would come back realizing how foolish this whole thing was.

Silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity although he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he set off at a full run after her.

"Lexa, wait," he called even as she turned the handle to the door.

She glared at him, warning him to be quiet.

He ignored her. He couldn't explain how or why he knew, but his gut told him something was very wrong. "Wait, it's a-"

She pushed the door open at the same time he tackled her to the ground, rolling away as the building burst into flames.

Dazed, he rolled over to see his hunch had been right, but that they were both, thankfully, relatively unharmed. They still hadn't found the prisoner however, and the helicopter flying overhead reminded them they were out of time.

"Come on, we better go." Lexa said as she climbed to her feet.

He staggered to his own, but the feeling wasn't gone. Suddenly it hit him. It wasn't Airwolf flying overhead; in fact she should have taken everything out two minutes ago.

"Run!"

It didn't matter where at the moment, they just had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

They had just reached the tree line when the helicopter overhead began firing and a group of people amassed behind them. There was no question of if it was a trap now, the only question being whether or not they could escape it.

Hawke turned to fire a few shots back as they fled, catching up with Lexa again in a few long strides.

"We're going to have to put some distance between us and them." She glanced back, somehow managing not to run into anything or fall and twist her ankle as she continued forward. "I think there's a river up ahead. Run to the water's edge as fast as you can. Go downstream about fifty meters and find some cover. I'll be right behind you."

"We aren't-"

"I don't care what we aren't doing; we **are **doing this, now go!"

She handed him her rifle and he did as he was told while she began pulling things out of the pack she had insisted on wearing.

He ran to the water just deep enough for them to lose his footprints then started downriver, already eyeing a tree and clump of bushes that overhung the riverbank.

Meanwhile, Lexa lobbed a couple grenades behind her, trying to find the detonator which had inopportunely decided to take residence somewhere in the depths of the bag where she could locate it.

"C-4 doesn't do me much good without a detonator and a detonator doesn't do me much good without something to detonate it with," she murmured to herself as she continued hunting, Long's army gaining on her. Much to her chagrin, she actually wasn't that strong of a runner. She dropped the whole pack of, C-4 included, on the ground and disappeared into the trees twenty yards ahead, hiding in wait as her pursuers fell into her trap.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Well, that ought to take care of them for a while," Hawke commented aloud as he not only heard and saw but felt the massive explosion up the river. It kept burning.

"How much did she use though?" This was no diversion explosion, it was more of a take out the village explosion. "That should take 'em all out."

"If we were all so foolish," the voice from behind him scoffed.

Swallowing hard, Hawke recognized the voice, turning to face the last person on earth he ever wanted to see again. "I, uh, see you've learned a little English."

The swarthy Vietnamese man jerked his head back toward the camp they had just fled then jabbed him in the ribs with the muzzle of his rifle. "Didi moi."

"But not that much," he recanted.

Nguyen van Long glared at him disdainfully, but Hawke couldn't tell how much of it he understood. The look on his face, however, quickly reminded him that he was not one for playing games. Long stabbed him in the ribs again as a not so subtle reminder he was supposed to be moving on, and reluctantly he obeyed although not completely sure he wouldn't have rather been shot on the spot. Long continued periodically prodding him all the way back to the camp where he left him alone in a furniture less cell with only the promise of his eventual return, and with him the same pain he had experienced years ago.

\A/

It had been several hours since Long had left and it was beginning to get dark by the time the door swung open again. When it did, a somewhat worse for wear Lexa was thrown unceremoniously inside then it abruptly slammed shut once again.

"Not much for hospitality are they?" she remarked sardonically as she grimace, sliding into a sitting position against the far wall.

String didn't look up.

"You can't so much as look at me?" she demanded, "show some sign of life?"

"Not much point," he answered cynically.

"I wasn't planning on sticking around myself," she retorted, glad to finally get some indication he was indeed still alive. She had been beginning to wonder.

"You escaped once. What goes to say you can't do it again?"

"I barely made it out alive then and I was ten years younger."

Lexa sat in silence for several moments before blurting out, "are you always this self-centered?"

He glowered at her but said nothing.

"He has control of Airwolf, you know. If he figures out how to fly her and use her full potential….you know what kind of havoc that machine can cause. You couldn't even be bothered to see if I was alright. You spent years throwing a pity party for yourself under the guise of missing your brother."

"You have no-"

"Have no what? No right? I have every right. You can't agree to do something like the Airwolf project and just give up in the middle of it. Did it never occur to you that maybe Saint John missed you too? That it wasn't always about you? When you agree to do something you have an obligation to finish whatever the task is. You agreed to get this prisoner out and stop Long, not whine about how bad you have it."

"You weren't here, Lexa," he fumed. "You don't know him. I'm not usually into giving up all hope and abandoning any plans of escape, but this is different. This is the reason I have nightmares. I would rather be about anywhere else in the world under any other circumstances than be here. I did my part, I was string when it mattered and didn't give anything away. I just don't think I can handle that kind of pain again."

"You're right about something. I wasn't here then, never was held captive by Long, but I do know him. Honestly, I don't know why I'd tell you this, you're the last person I would have thought I'd be sharing this with, but I do know him far better than you think."

"How?" he challenged.

"My father was a very influential man, and he was going to make sure there was no way his little girl would end up getting sent some place like Vietnam. Being a year younger then you, added to the fact you joined up early - something my parents never would have dreamed of letting me do - I couldn't have been over there before '71."

"That already doesn't make sense. You told me that you were an orphan and that-"

"I'm getting to that part. My mother died before I was three, evidently had been battling something for years. I never get too attached to me dad, not that he gave me much chance to be. To make a long story short, I ran away and joined the military anyway, forged the signature. When my dad found out he was furious, but never said anything - didn't want the dishonorable discharge on my record. He did manage to keep me away from all of Asia though.

"Once I finished my stint in the army, I joined the FIRM as one of their field operatives and took a job in Vietnam. I don't know why I was so anxious to go over there, probably just to rebel against authority, but evidently I was. By the time I made it the fighting was about over however. As you can probably imagine, Long wasn't one of the first to just stop though., not to mention the money he was making smuggling drugs and dealing arms on the side. I was over there trying to take him down about the same time you got out of the hospital and started home."

"That still doesn't answer the orphan thing," he pried.

"I came back briefly and got paired with my second partner, you, after Long killed the first one."

"It's still not the same as being held prisoner," he argued.

"I'm not going into detail, but I _can_ say I learned a fair amount about him. When you went off after our brother, a mission that you obviously remember quite well, I became much more familiar with Long's fighting and torture tactics."

"Yeah, when you sent his whole private army after me."

"I didn't mean to. You never were very specific on where you were going and I had to get him off my tail; you just happened to be in the direction I sent him.

He made no rebuttal, refusing to get involved in _**that **_conversation again.

"So did you just find telling me you were an orphan convenient? Last I check both parents had to be dead for you to claim that."

"You didn't ask me then," she answered simply. "I didn't tell you that until Germany and by then he was dead. Maybe orphan wasn't quite the right term though," she conceded. "It make people feel a little too sympathetic considering I killed him."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

It was now completely dark outside and relatively quiet, but both prisoners remained silent, hoping to hear whatever the noise was that had sounded a moment before.

"I don't think we're gonna hear it again," Lexa finally said, breaking the silence. "It's as good of a time as any to make an escape though."

"You have no clue what is outside that door," he reminded. "Without Cait we have no way of getting home either."

"No wonder it took you two months to get out if you worry about every little detail like this," she complained. "Do you think she could have turned?" Lexa questioned outright.

"Caitlin helping Long? No, of course not!"

"Then I'd guess she probably got caught too and is just being held in a different building. We find her, take Airwolf back, and get out of here, blowing up the camp on the way out.

"You make it sound too easy."

"Or maybe it really is that simple."

Hawke was about to comment when the door swung open again, slamming against the wall. Eyes shining with mischievous delight and hatred at the same time, Nguyen van Long said one single word that shook his captive to the core. "Hawke."

He muscled Hawke out of his corner and roughly shoved him forward, directing him towards a particularly foreboding building mere yards away.

Lexa cowered against the opposite wall as he took her cellmate away, hoping he didn't recognize her. The evil glint in his eye as he cast a quick glance her way suggested otherwise though, and that he had plenty in store for both of them.

She watched Hawke halfheartedly fight as he was bullied toward the other building, almost seeing him reach it before everything went suddenly black.

\A/

After blinking several times, blue eyes narrowed, searching the area even as Lexa began mentally preparing herself for the seemingly inevitable interrogation and torture that was likely to follow. Instead she found herself alone in a completely dark room.

"Power outage?" she asked sarcastically.

There was no answer.

"What, are you scared of the dark?"

Still no response.

All she could tell was that she was in a pitch black room with no apparent ways of escape, and she was alone. At least she thought she was. Oh, and she was firmly secured to a chair in the middle of this boundless prison.

It appeared she was talking to herself.

"Fine, I'll do it myself."

She struggled to free herself from her bonds, but it seemed the more she tried the tighter they got.

"You could always move up in the world and get yourself a pair of handcuffs, cable ties work even," she muttered, "something I might eventually be able too get myself out of."

In her struggles it finally occurred to her to see if the chair was bolted down to the floor. If not, she might be able to slam it against the wall and break it…. Unfortunately, she soon found it was.

\A/

"Stringfellow," the almost sincerely concerned voice called before icy cold water splashed across his face. " You still with us?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," He sneered back, all the while wondering how far Lexa had made it by then. She had acted like she cared about them all getting out of there and finishing the mission, even conveniently coming up with a personal story to support her charade. He had seen the way she cowered in the corner when Long came in though. It might have fooled Long, but not him. It wasn't genuine, she was just trying to bide time until she could escape, with or without him and Cait. So much for Saint John's theory of her being an overall good person.

"What you doing here?" his captor demanded in his somewhat broken English.

"I'm having someone splash me with this refreshingly cool water," Hawke answered arrogantly, "it really does help with the heat out here, you should try it."

"Sarcasm gets you nowhere," he warned.

"So far it has gotten me further with you than silence, or maybe that's just because you finally learned a bit of English," he retorted, suddenly wondering how mad it would make Long if he started speaking Spanish. "What were you expecting way back when anyway? It's not like most the boys you caught could speak any Vietnamese worth mentioning. Even if they did break, you wouldn't be able to-"

"I do the questioning!" he broke in hotly. "Now be quiet!"

"A minute ago you wanted me to tell you what I was doing over here. Which is it? You can't have it both ways."

"Speak only when I tell you," Long fumed, anger boiling up inside of him as his hand came across in a hard blow and everything faded into a blissful black.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

"Stringfellow Hawke," Lexa repeated, this time louder. "Stop lazin' around or ya gonna get us both caught."

Slowly things started coming back. Unfortunately. He had a pounding headache and wouldn't have been surprised if he had a couple cracked ribs, and that annoying… Wait, that was _her _voice.

Gradually he started to sit up, only succeeding in making his head hurt worse. "Why do I feel like I got hit upside the head with a brick?"

"Uh… ya kinda did," Lexa answered. "Long's guys are used to heavier people who fight back evidently, or else they just don't their own strength. And that wall is definitely more solid than last time I was here." She helped him into a sitting position although none too gently and gazed skeptically at him.

"If you're going to make some smart comment about how bad I look, just do it already," Hawke said as she continued to scrutinize.

"Do you think you can walk on your own? Or maybe make that run if you'd like to stay alive…. Although if you don't want to live you might as well not even walk. You could stay here and watch the show. The chances of survival though… not so good."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know how much of this gets through your thick skull, but I will tell you once more Long isn't any nicer on women, not _nicer _on anyone; he's only harder on you because you got away once already. Well guess what, I'm the other fish that got away so he doesn't take too kindly to me being here either. I plan on getting out of here before he does me any permanent damage though or die trying. My question is, are you coming with me? I'm planning to take out the whole village when I go so, it's a kind of now or never all or nothing thing."

"How are you planning to escape?"

"That's for me to worry about. I just need to know it you're coming."

"I want to know exactly how you're expecting to get out, especially with me trying to tag along. You know how well he's armed and we don't have much chance without Airwolf."

"I will get myself and those coming with me out by any means necessary. I just need you to decide which side you're on."

She had a point and he knew it. If any of them were going to get out of this alive they needed to work together, even if that meant he had to work with Lexa again using the very tactics he thought he had finally managed to escape for good. He had to. If not for himself, then for Caitlin and the innocent people that would die if they didn't keep Airwolf out of Long's hands.

"Alright. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm with you."

\A/

**Nguyen Van Long's Camp**

**2:29 am**

"Almost there," Lexa said as she scraped up another handful of dirt, "you ready?"

"Have been for hours," Hawke replied.

"Hey, you try digging a hole being enough for us to get out without being seen. It takes a while."

"I know, let's just get it over with. I'll take whatever's on the right side and you take the left. If all goes well we'll meet about a mile north of the camp in half an hour."

"It's finished. Let's go."

Lexa slid through first, waiting only long enough to make sure her partner would be able to make it through on his own.

Her partner, she mused, who would have thought the main obstacle in their relationship would force them to work as partners again?

Once String was halfway through, far enough to convince her, she started towards the closest building to her left. A well placed kick took down the less sturdy door and, much to her delight she wasn't met with the hostile force she had expected but instead she found Long's ammo dump. She grabbed all she could carry and began setting up a remote detonator on a block of remaining C-4. Setting up two more, she added them to the hoard she was already carrying to future use, near future. Once she was finished setting up the charges she stealthily slipped back into the darkness, moving on to the main buildings and the barracks to leave the same kinds of "gifts." She caught a glimpse of String making his way into another building in his search for Caitlin of any clues to where Airwolf might be. She carried the brick of explosive to the entrance, catching off guard as he tried to sneak back out.

"Dammit, Lexa, you about gave me a heart attack. Aren't you supposed to be on the other side of the camp?"

"Here," she said, ignoring his question and handing him an AK-47 and several clips of ammo instead. "Take the C-4 and set it inside, next to something structurally important preferably then hurry up and finish here. There's a good possibility I might wake someone up when I go throwing bombs into the bunks."

"Lexa, don't. Our goal is to get out alive, not to-"

He was cut off by a sudden burst of gunfire coming from the other side of the camp, sending both of them diving for cover.

"How many more buildings do we have left?" Lexa asked, returning fire.

"Two more buildings, but one of them is Long's personal hooch."

"I'll take that one and then start blowing things up. Make sure you're out of the way when I do."

"Fine," he agreed, running across to the next building an then laying down cover fire as Lexa ran across.

He hit the door shoulder first, succeeding in breaking in, but also worsening the agonizing feeling coursing throughout his body. What he saw as he stepped inside only made his stomach lurch again.

He dropped to his knees beside Caitlin's prone form, gently gathering her towards him and fervently searching for a pulse he feared wouldn't be there. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked, he kept trying to tell himself but when he actually found a pulse he almost couldn't believe it.

The continuing firefight that sounded like it was nearing abruptly brought him back to the present and reminded him that in a matter of minutes Lexa would reduce the village to burning ruins. If she left that much.

Pulling her limp body up off the floor, he draped it over his already injured shoulder, thankful she wasn't any heavier. At the moment her slender frame was all h could handle. Now he just had to get out of here before Lexa blew them all up.

He had just cleared the camp with several near misses when two explosions went off, blowing the two nearest buildings into pieces and showering the ground around them with wood splinters. That put an end to most of the resistance, but a minute later a huge eruptions came from behind, bringing a fiery heat wave as the ammo dump went up in flames, then all was quiet. Missions successful. At least mostly. They hadn't ever found the prisoner, but they did take out the camp and most if not all of Long's supporters.

\A/

**3:14 am**

**Approximately one mile out of Nguyen van Long's Camp**

Did I miss her? he wondered as h tried to scan through the dense foliage for some sign of Lexa. It was rough terrain and they could have easily gotten separated, but he had tried to stick to the pre-planned meeting point as well as he could. It didn't matter now though. He didn't think he could make it another step right on his own right now. The adrenaline rush was gone and there was nothing to do but wait it out. He had been a little late getting here, maybe she was just running late too. Maybe…

He was trying to fight off much needed sleep, still on the lookout for Lexa when Caitlin started coming to. He helped her sit up slowly, wishing he had some water or something to offer her.

She just sat and blinked several times, wavering enough for him to wonder if she was going to pass out again but remained conscious, looking at him with a dazed expression.

"What… what happened? She finally asked.

"I got you out of Long's personal hellhole and Lexa took out the camp. Right now we're just waiting on her to show back up."

"Airwolf?"

He shook his head, regretting it as the nauseating feeling in his stomach returned. "We haven't found her yet. Do you have any idea what he might have done with her after he brought you back to the camp?"

"No, I'm not even sure if I saw the guy you're talking about. I was about to go in, but was still worried that you and Lea might not be out yet. I was just about to take off when these two guys dragged me out of the cockpit, and that's the last thing I remember. I was stupid I guess, should have been paying more attention and not let them sneak up on me like that."

"It's not your fault; it happened to all of us. Long was just good. He shouldn't be a problem anymore though." He scanned the area once again, hoping to see Lexa, but had no such luck. "You might as well make yourself comfortable, we could be here for a while."

"You think she's alright?" Cait queried.

The thought had crossed his mind. Lexa was known for setting off her little "shows" a little too close for comfort. Hat if she set this one of _too _close and got caught in her own trap? Neither one of them needed to be making trips back now though.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine." Even if they found her there wasn't much they could do now. She would have to alright on her own until morning.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

**5:10 am**

A slight disturbance would have woken either one from their light sleep, but the heavy artillery being used under a mile away brought Hawk and Caitlin out of their slumber even faster.

String picked up the AK-47, looking for a target although knowing how useless it would probably if the enemy as much firepower as it sounded like they did. A familiar banshee shriek suddenly filled the air as Airwolf shot across the sky overhead, filling him with hope and anxiety. If that was Lexa then there was still hope they might actually make it out of Vietnam alive. If someone had somehow managed to survive Lexa's fireworks show at the village though and gotten a hold of Airwolf their only hope, as bleak as it was, was that they could crash her before they could do much damage.

As the mach plus helicopter came into sight again, this time much slower, he feared it was the latter. Lexa for all her faults was an expert pilot in about every aircraft imaginable and he knew she could handle the Lady better than that.

"Cait, get under the tree cover."

With any luck, they hadn't figured out how to use Airwolf's highly sensitive scanners and wouldn't just decided to shoot anyway to make sure.

No such luck.

The aircraft wavered in a shaky hover, finally lowering the landing gear and losing altitude until it come into contact with the ground abruptly.

Rotor still spinning, the lean long limbed figure stepped out, and pulled off her helmet to revealing locks of golden blond hair.

It was Lexa Cole, and he had never been so glad in his life to see her.

"Stop lazin' round. I've done all the hard work, now let's get out of here. Stringfellow, you're up first, fly boy."

He helped Caitlin to the other side first, somewhat concerned she wasn't completely with it yet, then had to move Lexa's stash of weapons she had no doubt stolen from Long's stockpile before blowing it up.

And that was the Lexa he knew.

Four AK-47s, a handful of grenades, couple bricks of C-4, and a 9 mm handgun.

"Is this is?" he teased. "One might think you were becoming a gunrunner."

"I _**am **_a gunrunner," she retorted sourly, "and I'd have a whole lot more if that idiot Long hadn't broken my bloody arm. Now get in there and get us out of here. I don't know about you, but I have things I'd like to do with my life."

"Yes ma'am," he replied and followed her orders before she had a chance to give him more than a dirty look. If possible, she seemed more on edge and snappy than usual, and he didn't want to be caught on her and her newly acquired weapons' bad side.

As he climbed into the pilot's seat and had to push the first aid kit out of the way he figured out her secret.

"Lexa," he said as they lifted of.

"Yeah?"

"How much of this stuff did you take? If it's as much as I think you did you really shouldn't have been flying. I'm thinking we might need to get you to a hospital before you die of an overdose."

"What I took or didn't take is none of your business. I'm a big girl and can take care of myself."

"Fine. Just remember I don't want you dead."

"Since when?"

"You came through for us out there. I'll admit I had my doubts at times, but in the end you finished what you started and got us al out like you said you would."

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, "I got us out."

\A/

**FIRM Clinic**

**Knightsbridge**

"Results time," the doctor said as she returned to the waiting room with her clip board in hand. "I'm Dr. White, the person who reads off a bunch of test results and figures you're all ready to get out of here so I'll try to be quick." She skimmed the papers for a brief moment the returned her gaze to her three patients. "Stringfellow Hawke, you have two cracked ribs ,which I wouldn't suggest messing with other than to ice them, and a mild concussion. In other words, let someone else fly you home and keep your feet on the ground for a few days. I'm not making this official because I trust you can exhibit some common sense, and if I find you violated this 'suggestion' I will medically revoke your license twice as long next time something happens. Understand?"

He nodded.

"Lexa Cole, you diagnosed yourself with a fractured radius, near overdose, and exhaustion. You are correct on all of those accounts an after the sedatives we had to give you to take the X-ray wear off, should survive. I suggest a splint and sling which I'll send home with you since I doubt you'll let any of us put it on you. Other than that, take it easy and don't overdose on Tylenol." She looked back down at her chars before looking at Lexa again, one eyebrow raised. "Or morphine."

Lexa gave a halfhearted agreement.

"And last but not least, Caitlin O'Shaunessey. You appear to have mostly just gotten banged around a bit. You probably need to take a few days off to rest, but should be fine. If you get worse in any way though I want you to call immediately. That goes for all of you. There's a doctor here twenty four hours a day, so you don't have any reason not to."

Caitlin nodded slowly and followed the others out to where Dom had agreed to meet them.

"Well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes!" Dominic exclaimed, wrapping them both in a giant bear hug.

"You mean we make your eyes sore," Hawke remarked self depreciatively. "I doubt we look that good, kinda got worked over."

"That wasn't what I said and wasn't what I meant. It's good to see you, that's all I meant by it. I'm sure you're both tired though so I guess reunions can wait until you've had a few hours sleep. Hop in and we'll be on our way." He climbed into the driver's seat an waited until the others were seated. "I thought that the other girl, uh, Lexa… yeah, Lexa… I thought she needed a ride too?"

" I think she found another ride," String answered even as he saw Airwolf disappear from sight toward the Lair and hoped everything would be alright.

Caitlin had been dropped off at her apartment and Saint John volunteered to watch Le a couple more days while the bruises faded and he got back into his daily routine again. For now though he had the cabin to himself and he could just relax.

Te skids touched down lightly on the wooden dick and Dom said his goodbyes as String gingerly climbed out and walked toward the cabin. Halfway up the path to the dock he turned to wave at the leaving Jet Ranger then continued inside.

Finally home and alone, he let out a deep sigh and settled on the couch, slightly startled when he realized he wasn't alone at after all.

"Wine?" Archangel offered.

He shook his head.

Michael nodded and continued to pour himself a glass. "I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. I understood Nguyen van Long wasn't going to just sit and watch you take his prisoner, but I didn't realize he had held you prisoner during the war until after I had assigned the mission though."

"You didn't think I could handle it?"

"I left Caitlin in charge of making that decision since she has worked with you more closely in recent years. If you had wanted to sit this one out though I would have understood."

"It was my job to go."

"Everyone has a weakness and if that was your it's nothing to be ashamed of." he picked up his cane and headed for the door. "One more thing, Hawke."

String looked in his direction but remained silent.

"I know Long was far from gentle with him, but morphine is a powerful thing. Try not to give your rescuees quite so much next time or you're likely to kill him after all that work."

"Overdose?"

"Like I said, it's strong stuff."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Have you seen Lexa since we returned?"

"She boarded a flight to Quebec City an hour ago, why?"

"Nothing, I just had something I wanted to talk to her about, but it can wait."

"I'll get out of your way then before you throw me out," Michael excused himself. "I'm sure you could use some rest."

No sooner than Michael had left he pushed up off the sofa and started for the loft. Both he and Dom were probably more right about him needing some sleep than either of them knew.

As he reached the top of the stairs he saw a note that had been scribbled on a piece of paper than carelessly tossed onto his bed. As he unfolded it and tried to decipher the scrawled message his eyes widened in fear.

_Next time make sure I'm home when you blow everything up. See you soon._

It wasn't signed but he knew who it had to be, and now he knew where he lived.


End file.
